Work-life balance
by Miki Saxon
When the economy slows, it’s easy to ignore retention factors because management kids itself into believing that replacing people is no big deal.
But slow as it’s happening, the times they are a’chnging.
At least here and there, in companies that really understand the importance of attracting and retaining scarce talent.
“To reduce “female brain drain,” global companies such as Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy and dozens of others are increasingly offering a variety of flexible work options.”
Don’t get me wrong. These companies aren’t doing it out of the goodness of their corporate heart or caring social consciousness, they’re doing it because it makes financial sense, AKA, vested self-interest.
“Business analysts and executives say talent retention and the forces of demography are the chief reasons large, traditional companies accommodate the needs of female employees. Fifty-eight percent of college graduates are women, and nearly half of all professional and graduate degrees are earned by women…the number of women with graduate and professional degrees will grow by 16 percent over the next decade compared with an increase of only 1.3 percent among men.”
Many small companies are in the forefront, although they skip the language and the programs are more informal—that’s why they’re so often described as “being like a family.”
And although the work-life trend started with, and is being driven by women, the guys want it, too, as do the Millennials.
The economy will turn around—it always does; more Boomers will retire; talent will be scarcer and the companies that already know how to offer balance will have an enormous recruiting edge.
How does your company handle work-life issues?
Image credit: mjamesno
